U.S. clinches No. 2 seed as Olympic hockey field is set

The U.S. defeated Germany 5-1 to finish the Olympic men’s hockey preliminaries undefeated, but still earned the No. 2 seed behind Canada due to goal differential. The top four seeds—Canada, the United States, Slovakia and Finland—receive byes to the quarterfinals, while the bottom eight teams enter a Tuesday qualification round to reach the knockout stage. Wednesday’s quarterfinal matchups will be Slovakia vs. Germany or France, Canada vs. Czechia or Denmark, Finland vs. Switzerland or Italy, and the United States vs. Sweden or Latvia, with reseeding for Friday’s semifinals and bronze (Saturday) and gold (Sunday) games on the schedule.